Fashion Shoes

Tag Archives: minimalist

Running is one of the best ways to get fit, lose weight and feel energized. When you run, your entire body
gets a workout. This includes your powerful skeletal muscles and your cardio and pulmonary systems. This is
especially great for those who are training to increase their endurance for other sports. Aside from running,
there really isn’t any other sport or activity that can equal the endurance training that running offers. This is
why there is a need for the best type of clothing and gear when it comes to enjoying this physically
demanding activity.
Lately, many shoe manufacturers have been putting out minimalist running shoes. This move on the part of
the shoe makers is a response to the way marathoners and avid runners have been favoring shoes with
thinner soles. There are even some marathoners who intentionally cleave off the thick soles of their running
shoes just to get a level feel while running.
The goal of minimalist running shoes is to reproduce the same sensation and effects of running barefoot
without all the injury associated with barefoot running. Recently, barefoot running has had many followers and
those who advocate the barefoot running movement speak of evolution and nature. They say that man’s foot
has developed to run most efficiently without running shoes. These barefoot runners are of course talking
about the typical running shoes that most people picture in their head when they think about running shoes -
those big, overly padded shoes with a very elevated heel part.
Barefoot runners, ultramarathoners and avid running hobbyists realize that the premise behind barefoot
running is in fact sound. There is however one big problem about running barefoot– your feet are just not
protected enough. This means that you feel every little pebble on the road. If your trail happens to go through
the woods, then your feet are at the mercy of the sharp twigs and mud that you may step on. If for instance,
you want to run through a particularly urbanized section of your locality then you run the risk of stepping over
nails, sharp plastics or even a discarded lit cigarette butt.

The abovementioned scenario, where your feet are not at all protected against anything that you may
encounter is the reason why shoe manufacturers are now going for a more minimal approach instead of going
barefoot altogether. When it comes to being a minimalist runner, you are getting the best of both worlds. You
get the protection of having shoes wrapped around your feet and you get the sensation of being barefoot.
There are three basic aspects about minimalist running shoes that are universal in every minimalist shoe. The
first thing that is noticeable about minimalist

shoes in comparison to typical shoes is the lack of a high heel
elevation. This is what is referred to a a zero foot drop or a minimal foot drop. The next two things different
about minimalist shoes can be observed as you wear them. You’ll realize that the minimalist shoes have little
or no inside padding and that you are able to feel almost everything you step on – except of course, the pain
that goes with stepping on sharp pebbles and sticks.